More military leeway keeps northern half in check
In a recent agreement with the United States, South Korea will now be tripling the range of their ballistic missiles in a move that may cause some to call for an adjustment of the Doomsday Clock. It’s easy to see why this advancement makes some people nervous. With South Korea’s proximity to her evil stepsister, North Korea, as well as the occasionally ominous China, the truth is that this is simply an act that’s been decades in the making. This is not an omen for war, nor should it even be considered so. Quite simply, it’s a loosening of the leash on South Korea in an act for the greater good of Southeast Asia.
Back in the ’70s, North Korea started this chain of events by buying scud missiles from Egypt to bring their military into that decade’s standard of warfare. They reverse engineered the missiles and eventually figured out a way to build rockets with a range of 500 to 700 kilometers. Understandably, the rest of Asia got a little bit nervous and we saw more rapid developments in long-range ordnance, as well as the prolonged interest in nuclear technologies. Naturally, South Korea followed suit by converting surface-to-air missiles into surface-to-surface missiles with a range of about 250 km, their answer to North Korea’s bolstered weapons systems. Throw in the fact that China has intercontinental-ballistic missiles, and a potent understanding of nuclear technologies in Japan, and you can see why the U.S. got a little nervous over the potential of an arm’s race in Southeast Asia.
Consequently, the U.S. aimed to nip this multi-faceted bud by negotiating with South Korea an agreement to limit their missiles’ range to 180 km, and later 300 km, in exchange for select United States missile technologies. Given the rocky relationship between the countries from World War II and beyond, and the United States’ patriarchal concern in preventing an arms race, this was done in an effort to prevent a possible mutually-assured destruction scenario.
After that brief trip through history, the year is 2012 and the topic is closing the technology gap between South Korea and the rest of Asia. After assessing the state of their neighbor’s technology, and protesting the agreement as a loss of sovereignty, South Korea has been allowed to develop and maintain longer ranged missiles.
The presence of more advanced weapons does not strictly indicate the direct need for more advanced weapons, although it’s clear the U.S. allowed a loosening of the guidelines in an attempt to further deter North Korea’s militaristic provocations. In fact, South Korea doesn’t even need the missiles if it were ever forced into war with North Korea. Its air force is so dramatically superior that they would easily establish dominance if the call of duty ever came.
Although the United States’ military catches a lot of flak, they do know what they’re doing and have global safety on their minds.
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